Real estate won't be full time for me in the immediate future so I'm looking for a broker with low fixed fees as opposed to a higher CX split. 

Could do it, but would really rather not.Scenario 2Rent current home - Buy new homePurchase price of 400k20k downpayment as opposed to 100k as used above in scenario 1at 3.375% (would this change with such a low downpayment?)

My understanding of investing in REITs is that the returns are taxed as regular income as opposed to capital gains.

I'm not opposed to expanding out a bit, but I don't want to be too far just in case anything comes up that I need to attend to. 

Adds a bit more in expenses, especially with the cost of electricity in Ontario (at least the unit I am looking at is gas heat opposed to baseboard), but the extra $300-400 roughly in expenses could easily be made up for with the extra $800-1000 in potential rent.

@Lee Behr I see you are from the Baltimore area so you are probably talking about private auction sales as opposed to foreclosures. 

However, wouldn't be opposed to doing something in the inland empire or some of the less ridiculous markets.

Do you usually find that portfolio loans are mostly provided by smaller local lenders (i.e. community banks) as opposed to regional or larger banks?

RBC - and perhaps briefly TD - are/were the only two of the Big 5 who were underwriting 5 & 6 unit properties as residential as opposed to commercial.Additionally, RBC will lend to the point where you have five mortgages (including your personal residence), so use them early in your property acquisition plan and strategically if you find a 5 or 6 unit worth acquiring.

I'm not opposed to buying/holding, just don't know if that's the best first move.